Look, when they do finally manage to hold an actual storm in a teacup, and we get to send an entry, the current kerfuffle over some of the Jillaroos not singing the Australian national anthem – while also being draped in the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander flag – will be our best chance for gold.
asserted
kerfuffle → look → gold
Yup, ideally a national team would enthusiastically belt out the one anthem – one they all loved – while also getting misty-eyed over the one flag, beloved by all.
asserted
they → belt → all
But the simple truth is three-fold:
We Australians simply don’t have an anthem like that.
asserted
We → have → that
Some love Girt, true.
asserted
Some → love → Girt
But for a huge swath of the population, no doubt including many Jillaroos, it’s a lot on the “meh” side of things.
asserted
it → include → things
(Our anthem should be I Am, You Are, We Are Australian, but don’t get me started.)
asserted
me → get → ?
Many, including your correspondent, don’t like our flag.
asserted
Many → include → flag
In the words of no less than former Prime Minister Paul Keating, “No great country has the flag of another country in the corner of their flag”.
asserted
country → have → flag
Not unreasonably, visiting comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said it looks like “Great Britain at night”.
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it → visit → night
As it happens, I feel both things, strongly.
asserted
I → happen → things
And if I was of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island heritage, I’d likely feel it more strongly still – to the point where it might even feel like a flag of British occupation and invasion.
uncertain
it → feel → occupation
Who the hell are the rest of us to say they shouldn’t feel like that?
asserted
they → say → that
If they do, so be it.
asserted
it → do → ?
One thing we can and should be misty-eyed about is that we live in a country where our patriotism is not forced.
asserted
patriotism → live → country
It is not one size fits all, and we are mostly free to be.
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we → fit → all
The Jillaroos in question have earned the right to wear the national jersey, and expressing themselves in this manner is emblematic of coming from a nation where freedom is more than an arcane concept.
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freedom → earn → concept
Fire at will, see if I care.
asserted
I → fire → will
Saving best until last
“It has been 24 years since Australia won the Bledisloe Cup,” Barry Wooldridge of Harden wrote in a letter to the editor of the SMH last week.
asserted
Wooldridge → save → SMH
“I turn 86 this week.
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I → turn → ?
Should I be getting anxious?”
asserted
I → get → ?
Sir, I write back on behalf of Australian rugby.
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I → write → rugby
Against that, we ask that you get plenty of exercise, eat healthily, and get regular checkups.
asserted
you → ask → checkups
See your doctor if pain persists, and believe in the Wallabies.
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pain → see → Wallabies
(Incidentally, when I recounted the above to my former sports editor, Ian Fuge, he told me one of his own favourite tales on the subject of getting older in the sports world.
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he → recount → world
A few years back, he mentioned to the great SMH racing writer Max Presnell that he wanted to have a meeting to organise coverage of the following year’s Melbourne Cup.
asserted
he → mention → Cup
“Next year’s Melbourne Cup?” Max snorted.
asserted
Max → snort → ?
“Son, at my age I don’t even buy frozen peas.”
asserted
I → buy → peas
These Wallabies are already winners
TFF was pleased to attend the Australian Rugby Awards on Thursday evening at the Ivy ballroom, where we did a little light palling around with some current Wallabies, all of whom were in da house before heading off to northern climes for their spring tour.
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all → attend → tour
Their first Test is against England at Twickenham next Sunday, and the obvious hope is that we will see the team that was so magnificent against the Springboks earlier in the month – and not the one that struggled against the All Blacks at Eden Park and in Sydney.
asserted
that → see → Sydney
Either way, one precondition for them continuing their climb, in a year when they at last had six Tests without a defeat, has been met.
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they → continue → defeat
There have been times over the last decades when I sensed that various generations of Wallabies were straying into the too-cool-for-school territory, distant professionals with little connection to the rugby heartland.
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generations → sense → heartland
They come across as humble, hard-working and completely committed to climbing the mountain that lies ahead as they build to next year’s home World Cup.
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they → come → Cup
After my rant last week about how underwhelming his existential angst over which country he’d like to play for in the World Cup was, I was expecting a reaction.
asserted
I → like → reaction
And I got one – but all of it was in full agreement, including among the Wallabies themselves.
asserted
all → get → Wallabies
You’re either desperate to pull the jersey on and play your heart out – see Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight and Dylan Pietsch as notable examples – or you’re simply not the bloke we’re looking for.
asserted
we → ’re → examples
The most staggering news of the week came out of the USA, with a credible report emerging that no less than 75 per cent of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had CTE, the neurodegenerative brain disease tied to collision sports.
I repeat: 75 per cent!
asserted
I → come → sports
I have recounted many times the story of the neurosurgeon I once sat next to years ago, who predicted that NFL would soon be banned or fade out of existence on the grounds that “you simply can’t run a business where a third of your employees get brain-damaged”.
asserted
third → recount → employees
But it appears he was wrong on two counts.
asserted
he → appear → counts
For one thing the figure, as more research emerges, is clearly a lot higher than a third.
asserted
research → emerge → third
And for another, to my eyes the NFL looks bigger than ever before, regardless of such devastating stats.
asserted
NFL → look → stats
…and 49 more, not listed.
The Aporia
